Walter
On 12 January 2019 at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, Walter made his WWE debut by confronting WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne after Dunne's successful title defense. The following week Walter confronted Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey in ring. Although he did not say anything, he made his intentions for Dunne’s WWE UK Championship quite clear. On the edition of 2 February 2019 of NXT UK, Walter made his in ring debut against Jack Starz. He beat Starz in under four minutes. At NXT TakeOver: New York, Walter defeated Dunne to win the United Kingdom Championship, ending Dunne's record setting reign at 685 days. On 22 May episode of NXT UK, Walter won a rematch for the United Kingdom Championship against Dunne, after interference by the European Union (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), thus establishing himself as a heel and forming a new stable called Imperium. The faction would later be joined by Alexander Wolfe, after he interfered in a match pitting Imperium against British Strong Style (the team of Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven). On the June 26 episode of NXT UK, Walter retained his title against Travis Banks. On the July 3 episode of NXT UK, Imperium interfered in Moustache Mountain's title match against Grizzled Young Veterans, therefore allowing Grizzled Young Veterans to retain their titles. After the match, they injured Tyler Bate. This led to match against Bate with Walter's title on the line at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, where Walter retained. Imperium appeared on the 18 September episode of NXT (the show's debut on the USA Network) where they attacked Performance Center recruit Denzel Dejournette. Walter cut a promo before the group was confronted by Kushida. Later that night, Imperium got involved in a backstage brawl during the Street Fight main event between Matt Riddle and Killian Dain which ended up at ringside. The following week Aichner, Barthel and Wolfe lost to Kushida and his surprise partners, Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango). On the October 9th episode of NXT, Walter defeated Kushida. Meanwhile, on the October 24th episode of NXT UK, Walter and the rest of Imperium came to the ring before being interrupted by Gallus (Mark and Joe Coffey and Wolfgang) who proceeded to insult Walter and state that NXT UK was “their kingdom” not Imperium's. Two weeks later, On the November 7th edition of NXT UK, Aichner and Barthel attacked Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster while Mark Coffey and Wolfgang attacked Zack Gibson and James Drake during a tag team match between Andrews, Webster, Gibson and Drake. Wolfe and Joe came to their respective factions, before Walter arrived. The two factions squared off in the ring, with the advantage belonging to Imperium, until Ilja Dragunov, whom Wolfe had been trying to persuade to join Imperium, came out to even the odds for Gallus. On the November 8th episode of SmackDown in Manchester, England, Imperium made their main roster debut (and Wolfe’s return) and attacked Heavy Machinery, before being chased off by the SmackDown locker room. On the November 11th episode of Raw (taped on the 8th) Walter and Imperium made their Raw debut to answer Seth Rollins’ open challenge to the “United Kingdoms best“. As Rollins prepared to hit his finishing move the Curb Stomp, the rest of Imperium attacked him causing a disqualification victory for Rollins. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and Kevin Owens ran down to even the odds leading to an eight man tag team match, which Imperium lost after Rollins pinned Wolfe after the Curb Stomp. On the November 22nd edition of SmackDown, Walter was one of many NXT wrestlers who invaded SmackDown with a Jeep while being led by Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg. Two days later it was announced on the Survivor Series kickoff by Michaels that Walter would be one of the five members of Team NXT in the 5 on 5 on 5 Elimination Tag Team Match happening later that night. Walter would be the first man eliminated in the match however, after being hit with Drew McIntyre's Claymore Kick. Team NXT would also lose the match. In the build-up for the NXT UK and NXT co-branded pay-per-view, Worlds Collide, Imperium began feuding with The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, and NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly), which was further intensified during the closing moments of NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on January 12, 2020, when the group attacked Imperium following Walter's successful title defense against Joe Coffey.Category:NXT UK Superstars Category:NXT UK Champions Category:Current Champions